Pinstripe Bowl Prediction
Merry Christmas Husker nation! I hope that you all are enjoying the holidays with your friends and family, and of course a Husker bowl game. Nebraska is set to face off against Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl in New York’s Yankee Stadium, the first matchup between the two schools. This is the only bowl game this year that has two former NFL Head Coaches in a matchup this season in Matt Rhule, and Bill O’Brien, and this game certainly could resemble that of an NFL game. At first when you think of Boston College you don’t really think of a football powerhouse, but Coach O’Brien in his first season has gotten his team playing at a very respectable level. Some of their notable wins this season are over Michigan State, Syracuse, and Pitt. They also played a very good Missouri team down to the wire at Missouri in what was a very entertaining game if you watched it, I myself remember watching that just praying that Mizzou would lose.
Boston College comes into the game at 7-5 compared to Nebraska’s 6-6. Boston College is averaging 29.3 points per game with a fairly balanced passing and rushing attack (2,290 pass yards, 2,116 rush yards), and averaging just 351 yards per game. Defensively they give up 26.3 points per game, 381 yards per game (118.5 rushing and 262.5 passing), and have 30 sacks on the year (16.5 by one individual player).
Nebraska comes into the bowl game averaging 23.8 points per game while allowing 21.4 points per game. The offense is averaging 228 pass yards per game and 130.6 rush yards per game.
On paper this looks to be a pretty evenly matched contest, both coaches seem to prefer an NFL like style of game that often comes down to how well can you control the ball, especially in the 4th quarter. So in my not so professional opinion this game is a tough one to call. Both teams have played fairly good defense and the offenses have struggled at times throughout the season. Boston College remains intact as far as coaches and most starters are available for the game, Nebraska is now without DC Tony White and missing a few key impact players on both sides of the ball. However Nebraska (at least on paper) has a ton more talent and athleticism than Boston College does, and I believe that will pay dividends for the Huskers on Saturday. Nebraska has now had a solid 4 weeks of extra practice and Bowl prep with new OC Dana Holgorsen and it will be very interesting to see what changes or improvements have been made so far.
So with all that being said, here is my prediction for Nebraska vs. Boston College in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe bowl………
Nebraska-31
Boston College- 24
I think that this will come down to a one score game with the Boston College defense giving us some trouble early on, but the Husker offense will settle in and be able to drive the ball with a steady run game and some effective passing from Dylan Raiola.
Go Big Red
